“Infamous Motorized Barstool” For Sale on eBay

Last March, Kile Wygle of St. Louisville was charged with driving a barstool while drunk. The incident received extensive local and some national publicity. Within a week, a store in downtown Newark was selling tee shirts about the motorized barstool. Within a month, Wygle and the barstool had their own song. This week, the barstool is up for grabs on ebay.

The story of how the motorized barstool ended up on eBay is nearly as unexpected as the barstool itself. It seems the barstool’s creator, Kile Wygle, owed $37,000 in back child support. The director of Licking County Child Support Enforcement Beth Winegar says her agency stepped in when they learned that Ripley’s Believe It or Not was entering into an agreement with Kile Wygle to purchase the barstool.

:We’re not into seizing anybody’s goods at this time to satisfy back child support,” says Winegar. “I think it’s a one shot in a blue moon kind of thing. But certainly we wouldn’t rule out any possibilities.”

Winegar says the agency wanted to generate interest about the barstool, and notes the song written about it which plays when the eBay listing is pulled up.

31-year-old singer/songwriter Bryan Lewis says he started writing The Motorized Barstool Song immediately after hearing the story on the radio, while he was driving his truck. Lewis admits he took a little artistic license with the actual story, adding a police chase and describing the stool as having Harley-type handle bars instead of a steering wheel, not to mention putting yellow DUI license plates on the stool.

Lewis has those plates on the motorized barstool replica built for him by his brother for use during concerts. And, if he wanted to Lewis could ride his replica barstool and perform his song while wearing a motorized barstool tee shirt designed by Robin Pierce of Cornell Clothing in Newark.

Pierce is known for his line of shirts poking fun at what might be called the casual pronunciation of the city’s name, Nerk Ahia, and has a special design acknowledging the city’s latest claim to fame. The shirts are gray with Nerk Ahia on the front and, on the back, “Home of the Motorized Barstool as seen on TV” .with a large burgundy photo of the stool. They sell for about $20., more for larger sizes. Pierce says sales of the barstool tee shirts picked up when the barstool went up on ebay earlier this week, but they were already strong. He says he’s sent them to California, Canada, Mexico and points beyond.

So, with the tee shirts and the song, the story of Kile Wygle’s invention seems likely to continue even after the bidding ends December 13th on eBay.